Here are your latest Leeds United morning headlines for Thursday, March 9.
Leeds United 'lead the race' for Barcelona teenager Ilias Akhomach
Ilias Akhomach will leave Barcelona in the summer, and Leeds United are leading the race to sign the 18-year-old.
That is according to Spanish outlet Sport, who report that Victor Orta is working hard to convince the winger to move to Elland Road at the end of the season.
Read more: Leeds United have Premier League survival lessons to learn from 2022 escape act
His contract at Barcelona is set to expire in June, and although the teenager has been offered a new deal by the Spanish giants, it is believed to be well below what is being offered from clubs elsewhere.
Leeds are reportedly at the forefront of a bidding war for Akhomach, with La Liga side Sevilla also interested.
Barcelona will receive compensation should he leave in the summer. Akhomach has only starred three times for the first team, with all of those appearances coming under Xavi last season.
Wilfried Gnonto's reaction and six Leeds United absentees on Javi Gracia's agenda
Javi Gracia faces the media on Thursday afternoon for his pre-match press conference. The Leeds United head coach will take questions from television, radio, print and online journalists at Thorp Arch ahead of the Brighton & Hove Albion clash on Saturday.
Here is a run-down of some of the main topics on the agenda for the boss to address at the training ground today.
Saturday's absentees
The media are unlikely to expect too many answers on the medical department, but questions have to be asked and Gracia may be willing to part with some details today. Adam Forshaw, Liam Cooper, Patrick Bamford, Stuart Dallas, Rodrigo and Luis Sinisterra were all missing last weekend at Chelsea.
Leeds United's Premier League challenge laid bare as relegation rivals' run-ins ranked
Leeds United have one of the toughest run-ins in the battle against Premier League relegation, but it’s not as bad as some, it seems. The Whites currently find themselves perched precariously on the edge of the relegation zone, with goal difference the only thing keeping them out of the bottom three with just 13 games to play.
As such, Javi Gracia’s side need to find form and do it quickly if they are to pull away from danger before the end of the campaign. Gracia made a fine start to life at Elland Road last month with a win over Southampton, who were bottom of the table at the time, but Leeds were unable to build on that at Chelsea last weekend.
Fans could be forgiven, then, for looking down the club’s fixture list and assessing where the points Leeds require will come from. United’s schedule isn’t a pretty sight, with games against top five sides Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City still to come.
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